#funny that my first event is taki's event xD

[minsarasarahair]

Favorite Female SSR Shikigami in Onmyoji RPG

[dreamca7cher]

Dreamcatcher Dallas Concert Write-Up

Now that I’m back home and have had time to process the trip, I’m finally ready to write about the experience. It’s gonna be hella long, so strap in! Even now, it’s still kind of hard to believe that it all actually happened. It’s like one of those things that feels like a dream while it's happening ya know?  A friend and I drove up from Houston early Wednesday morning, and arrived in time to grab our merch without any problems. I’m actually pretty impressed with the quality of the goods, they’re definitely not top quality but not cheap either. I had heard Studio PAV had problems organizing the lines and setting up before the concert at the previous stops, but everything seemed to go pretty smoothly by this 3rd tour stop. I was on the fence about the Over the Sky event due to the $200 entry fee, but finally caved when I saw one of my friend’s solo photos. I met up with some friends with 7-Dreamers and we hung out until it was time to go in for OTS at 4pm.

I bought my OTS ticket the night before the concert, and I think there were still some left the last time I checked, but I would guess there was 60-70 of us in there. We were arranged in 2 rows of chairs and then when the girls came out, it was so unreal. I mean I’ve seen them before last year at the LA fanmeet and KCON but maybe I just forgot how beautiful they really are. They were absolutely radiant dressed in angelic white outfits and smiling happily - they probably got some much needed rest in the time between Chicago’s Sunday concert. They did a Q&A session where they answered some questions the fans had written. Filming/pictures were not allowed so I don’t remember much. Some of the answers were pretty basic or things I had heard before. A highlight was Yoohyeon saying she would be a cockroach if she could turn into any animal bc they’re hard to kill lmaoo. Then came the solo photos with our own phones, which I had nervously been anticipating for hours. You could quickly indicate which pose you wanted to go with, lots of people did hearts, rock on signs, and the standard cute kpop poses. One guy did the dab and promptly got heckled by the crowd lol. When my turn came, it all happened so fast that I don’t remember looking directly at each of them. I felt like I would burst into flames like in Indiana Jones or something XD. I first thought about doing the dual heart thing with whoever was going to sit next to me, but I chickened out lol. Then I was going to do rock on until I saw that a lot of other people went with that, so I just decided to do a thumbs up. It all worked out in the end, I could never have dreamed that Jiu would touch my cheek in a thousands years. I think I’ve peaked in life haha. After the photos, the girls went on stage and did some short mic tests, and then we were all ushered back outside.

At this point it was about 5pm, so we still had 3 hours to go until the concert actually started. I’m so glad I got VVIP bc that meant I didn’t have to jump in line and stay there for hours to keep my spot. It was maybe like 40-50 degrees F outside, but not too windy so it wasn’t too bad. I had fun just hanging out and talking with my friends, tho the only bathroom was a gas station across a busy street. The venue was located in this kind of industrial area-turned bar street. Very hip, I think they chose a good place. Finally, around 6:45, we hopped in line according to our VVIP number and we were let into the venue on time. From here we still had to wait an hour for the concert to start, and it was all standing so I’m glad I wore comfortable shoes. The VVIP section was barricaded off from the rest in case you needed to leave and come back, but I was in the 4th row dead center, so I didn’t want to lose my good spot. I wished I had at least gone to the bathroom first, but for once I actually somehow lasted through the full 3 hours.

At 8, the lights dimmed and they started playing some of DC’s songs, and shortly the girls finally came out to a raucous applause. There were 2 people right in front of me wearing these tall headbands with words in Korean on them, which was kind of annoying. And some of the people in front were filming holding their phones way above their heads.. The girls themselves even said to please not do that or use professional cameras, which they still ignored. Come on people, at least observe basic concert etiquette! Nothing could sour my mood though, as what followed was pretty much the best, most action packed 2 hours I’ve ever experienced. They performed the same song set from previous stops, so I won't list every single song. They sang all the title tracks interspersed with unit performances and brief talking parts. I really enjoyed the songs where they just played around and interacted with the crowd, especially the encore set. Sua of course had endless energy and was a real crowd pleaser all night. She played around with a stuffed elephant, tiny pink cowboy hat, and a Handong head cutout during the encore. The Taki Taki and 7 Rings covers naturally killed everybody, and TT/Bad Boy were probably the other crowd favorites. Siyeon was really funny, and her confidence was exemplary, especially during Overdose. I'm biased, but I was really impressed with Jiu's dancing in person. She gave 110% during the choreo, and still somehow managed to incorporate little bits of fan service toward us. All night she was hyping up the crowd, flashing rock ons, and just generally being the loveliest person ever. She almost had us convinced that she was the maknae but Gahyeon was just too cute all night, esp when she couldn't get her coat buttoned up at one point. Yoohyeon tried to help, but messed up and mismatched the buttons which was hilarious. She was kind of subdued all night I feel, but you could see the Rachel in her come out at times, which was very endearing. And Dami was just effortlessly cool, no better way to describe her. All her parts got loud screams from the crowd. Near the end the girls left the stage for a while as the crowd screamed for an encore. Then they came back wearing the tour t-shirts and did the fun songs with no set choreo. I was jealous of the front row since the girls would often crouch down to wave at the phones or throw hearts and stuff at everyone during this time. Of course I should shut up bc I can’t imagine T3 and T4 could see much from the back of the venue since it wasn’t stadium seating :/ At the end, they didn’t even look that tired which was insane after 2 straight hours of non-stop dancing. And Dreamcatcher’s choreo is way more complex than most other groups too! They are truly consummate professionals of the highest degree. Above all you could just tell how much work and effort the girls put into every performance, and beyond that - how thankful they are to InSomnia for the love we show them. They thanked us many times for coming and promised to return as 7 someday. They also made us promise to visit them in Korea lol.

During the hi-touch and group photo after, they must have been really tired but still greeted us with smiles and photocards. It was sad to finally leave the venue, but I have so many happy memories to last a lifetime. This was my fourth kpop concert, and it unquestionably topped them all. It was truly an incredible experience all the way through. I would pretty much describe it as a perfect day, I’m so happy that they finally came for a US tour. If anyone is still able to make it to future concerts, I highly, highly recommend going! It really could be a once in a lifetime experience.

[sambart93]

2018.07.20 Tenimyu: VS Hyoutei Nationals [Review]

I really shouldn’t have gone to this but I damn got a ticket and I damn went xD I really shouldn’t have though but it’s Higa AND Miura...I just had to!

Official Website here Official Twitter here Press Coverage 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 DVD PreOrder here and here, BR here and here

CAST and CHARACTERS

SEIGAKU 10TH GEN

Akutsu Nichika as Echizen Ryoma Aoki Ryo as Tezuka Kunimitsu Ezoe Takanori as Oishi Shuichirou Minaki Ibu as Fuji Shuusuke Taguchi Tsukasa as Kikumaru Eiji Takenouchi Daisuke as Inui Sadaharu Iwata Tomoki as Kawamura Takashi Ookubo Tatsuki as Momoshiro Takeshi Nakajima Takuto as Kaido Kaoru Ryuga as Horio Satoshi Nakamigawa Toshiki as Katou Kachirou Okuda Yumeto as Mizuno Katsuo

HYOUTEI

Miura Hiroki as Atobe Keigo Isaka Ikumi as Oshitari Yushi Kobayakawa Shunsuke as Shishido Ryo Kitano Satsuki as Mukahi Gakuto Tamura Shogo as Akutagawa Jirou Yamazaki Shogo as Taki Haginosuke Yamaki Takanori as Kabaji Munehiro Watanabe Aoto as Otori Chotarou Utsumi Akiyoshi as Hiyoshi Wakashi

HIGA

Muto Kento as Kite Eishirou Yoshizawa Tsubasa as Kai Yujirou Iwaki Naoya as Hirakoba Rin Raita as Chinen Hiroshi Takata Makoto as Tanishi Kei Sonomura Masashi as Shiranui Tomoya Matsui Haruki as Aragaki Kouichi

*

NON-SPOILER REVIEW

Overall: This was so good!! I am so glad that I went!! It was so good. It was absolutely amazing. It's difficult to explain but the story just entirely suited my taste and it was well acted and the songs were all great and I enjoyed pretty much all the characters which is unusual for me xD And the best part about the stage was definitely the bench interactions!! The bench interactions were amazing!! I couldn't stop watching them! I also loved how dark this stage was compared to others and previous ones. I felt like the atmosphere was really heavy for this one, or that I was just so completely engrossed in the whole thing this time around. And I got to see Hiroki in action again which was great! Also I was looknig forward to seeing this new Seigaku Gen - or at least went in with a clear mind and no pre-bias - and I enjoyed their performances so much -- they even got me crying a few times! This. Was. Great! Rating: 8.5/10

*

SPOILER

This'll be split into the two parts of the play and then some extras or whatever.

PART ONE

Some of the Higawaris that I remember were mostly from Higa: FAS: 太ってる あなたにオススメ シェイプアップ F&D: fitness and diet All were aimed at Tanishi obviously xD

As I said before, I couldn't take my eyes of the bench. Especially Jiro, he really caught my eyes during this stage. I spent more time watching what he, and the rest of Hyoutei were doing, rather than what was happening in the main plot and story xD Some things that Jiro did that caught my eye were:

☆Jiro falling backwards while sat on the steps and falling asleep onto Taki xD ☆Jiro dancing during Gakuto's pair song. ☆Jiro being so supportive of his other members and just never stopping!

Other things I spotted from other members on the benches were: ☆Eiji giving Taka a racket and then when it was taken away from Taka just after, Eiji tried to hide from him but Taka stormed over and held onto his shoulders and Eiji just stood in shock like 'omg what is he going to do to me!!' it was really cute and funny.

Speaking of Seigaku: I really like this new Seigaku already! Which is good!! Inui‘s actor can sing really well and he sounded so great! I like this new Seigaku so much that I actually felt sympathy for the Seigaku members; Tezuka's solo was so good and so dark!!! I was crying for Tezuka during his match!! That NEVER happens with me! And Fuji’s solo at the end of part one (Heavy Rain) was so good!!! He sounded great! Also when Fuji and Atobe were dancing together!!!! I ship it!!! They looked so good together! It was great! Also, Momo’s actor is good but his voice feels a bit too low that it’s kinda suffering during the songs he sings.

The day I went, there was only one mistake and the entire audience died of laughter for a good minute which ruined the moment but it was funny: Just after his match when he returned the the bench, Gakuto slipped down the stairs a little and because it was this silent moment between Tezuka and Kabaji, everyone heard and everyone's attention went there. The audience died laughing. All of Hyoutei kept it together during this moment but poor Eiji’s actor was looking over at what happened and he cracked up laughing too. But kudos to pretty much everyone keeping it together and acting completely normal. But for some reasons all the audience just found it so amusing!

Other comments:

☆I love how DARK this stage it! For some reason Tenimyu always seemed like this happy, clappy, fun and games stage but for some reason I found this one SO dark and I absolutely loved it!! I really do enjoy dark plays.

☆Higa are the very first to enter the stage and straight away they are hilarious. They come in from the sides on stupid boats and come down either aisle. Once they get out of their tiny boats (by the way, one is being dragged behind by a rope and ring xD) and on shore, they started rapping. HIGA DID RAPPING AGAIN! It was great! And what was even better is that they got the entire audience to clap along to their song! Which I really appreciated!

☆The first three opening school songs were so strong and so good!! I enjoyed every single one; Higa then Seigaku then Hyoutei. They were really powerful and so enjoyable to watch!

*

PART TWO

During the breaks between the two arts, I ran out to buy Kaido and Jiro's bromides. I got about 30 minutes into part one before I was like 'duh goddammit I love Kaido! I should've picked them up straight away!' and then damn Jiro came along and my brain went 'shit this kid is too cute! I must support him and get his bromides!' Jiro has always been cute but I've always thought no one would ever out-do was Tomorun did as Jiro but damn Tamura is so cute as Jiro! He's so bouncy and hyper and so funny. Speaking of Jiro; more Jiro adorableness:

☆Jiro sleeping between Oshitari's legs. ☆When Jiro fell asleep on Otori and Atobe, and Atobe lifted Jiro's hand (that was touching his leg) in disgust and pushed it off himself xD ☆Jiro making fun of Eishiro Buchou was absolutely hilarious! He just kept going because the audience were dying of laughter. And then some members were like 'Oi.. OI!' and trying to get him back to the bench.

Jiro needs to be protected. Jiro is a sweetie. Jiro is amazing xD

More Higa moments and Higwaris:

☆During the end of one of their appearances, Rin hit Buchou on the head but when Buchou turned around, Rin had already slipped past and gone off stage, so he thought Kai did it, so he grabbed Kai by his shirt collar and dragged him off stage. Kai's toes were like tiptoes as he was dragged off stage xD ☆There was another moment when the (I think) Buchou said something and Tanishi got really angry and went to attack him but then Shiranui grabbed Tanishi's arm and pulled him back so that Shiranui could attack; Tanishi was super shocked by the strength Shiranui had and the audience cracked up laughing from the twist of events that Shiranui was the strong one in the group. Luckily Aragaki stopped Shiranui from attacking and got him to back off xD ☆Towards the end of the stage, Higa had to break a watermelon with their eyes closed, but they all failed so Eishiro said he would show them how it's done, but instead of a watermelong, Shiranui (I think) pretended to be it and when Buchou went to hit the watermelon, he caught Buchou’s hand and of course Buchou was dumbfounded xD

Lets talk about the giant final match shall we because the entire final match was amazing!

☆Nichika’s pronunciation with all the English lines was really good!! ☆When Echizen and Atobe were having an evil laugh showdown, Atobe's laugh was so gooood!! HOMG... ☆When Echizen threw his cap and Kaido caught it oh so perfectly! I was so impressed with how flawlessly he caught it! ☆Now can we talk a little about Hiroki’s butt? Because damn it was so damn obvious in those shorts!! He has such a good butt! Even from 3rd balcony, I could tell he fit nice and tightly into those shorts...  ☆And ohhhmyyyygoooddd can we talk about the amount of hip rolls he did during this damn stage and in different songs and stuff!!! Oh my... ☆Huge kudos to both the boys during the final match because even watching it, I as getting exhausted for them! It goes on for so long and they're constantly running around the stage and Hiroki is doing all his ballet jumps the entire time and stuff! Damn Hiroki must have been exhausted after that!  ☆The final match between Echizen and Atobe was so intense and so much dancing and performance. Just damn. I absolutely loved this entire last segment of the stage. So intense, so well choreographed, so well performance and presented. It was phenomenal.

Other comments:

☆Ohhhhh I teared up during the Golden Pair song and I really, really don't like Golden Pair in general, but even they got me in the feels this night!! Which just shows already how much better this gen is! ☆I really liked all the doubles duet song. And all the songs in general I really got into and enjoyed! ☆Just before the final song, the ending is with all the school's songs remixed and it was great! ☆BUT the encore song and dance is silly in my opinion. It was ridiculous. ☆During the EnCore, Kai came to our side!! I have had the best luck with him seriously... ☆During the EnCore song, Echizen was slacking off to the right side of the theatre, and when Tezuka saw him and Echizen got worried and began to move away from him. ☆Kaido made it back on stage just girigiri right at the end of the EnCore song xD ☆I realised today that I like Tenimyu when it’s dark. Like this stage is dark as fuck. But one thing did ruin it, and it was infact Echizen's song. It was a bit too happy clappy and just ruined the dark mood in my opinion xD just keep it ALL dark!! xD ☆Now I know this is going to sound hypocritical but I appreciate that the very end of stage ended on a funny note. Echizen came on stage with a razor and some classical music started playing and Echizen started doing ballet moves towards Atobe but then obviously Taki comes on stage and says he'll sacrifice his hair so begs Echizen not to shave Atobe's xD I think we needed something like this AT the end to just bring us all out of the story and back to reality a bit.

*

GOODS

*

And there we go!

[muffinekjagodowy]

i was tagged by @taki-random, thank you my sweet blobfish :*

APPEARANCE:

I am [5'7"] or taller I wear glasses I have at least one tattoo I have at least one piercing I have blonde hair I have brown eyes I have short hair My abs are at least somewhat defined I have or have had braces (have had)

PERSONALITY:

I love meeting new people People tell me that I’m funny Helping others with their problems is a big priority for me I enjoy physical challenges I enjoy mental challenges I’m playfully rude with people I know well I started saying something ironically and now I can’t stop saying it

ABILITY:

I can sing well I can play an instrument I can do over 30 push-ups without stopping I’m a fast runner (5 ½ minute mile) I can draw well I have a good memory I’m good at doing math in my head I can hold my breath underwater for over a minute I have beaten at least 2 people in arm wrestling I know how to cook at least 3 meals from scratch I know how to throw a proper punch

HOBBIES:

I enjoy playing sports I’m on a sports team at my school or somewhere else I’m in an orchestra or choir at my school or somewhere else I have learned a new song in the past week I work out at least once a week (just because i have PE at uni once a week) I’ve gone for runs at least once a week in the warmer months I have drawn something in the past month I enjoy writing FANDOMS ARE MY #1 PASSION I do or have done martial arts (my PE is krav maga XD)

EXPERIENCES:

I have had my first kiss I have had alcohol I have scored the winning goal in a sports game I have watched an entire season of a TV show in one sitting I have been at an overnight event I have been in a taxi I have been in the hospital or ER in the past year I have beaten a video game in one day I have visited another country I have been to one of my favourite band’s concerts

RELATIONSHIPS:

I’m in a relationship I have a crush on a celebrity I have a crush on someone I know I have been in at least 3 relationships I have never been in a relationship I have asked someone out or admitted my feelings to them I get crushes easily I have had a crush on someone for over a year I have been in a relationship for at least a year I have had feelings for a friend

MY LIFE:

I have at least one person I consider a best friend I live close to my school My parents are still together I have at least one sibling I live in the United States There is snow right now where I live I have hung out with a friend in the past month I have a smartphone I have at least 15 CDs I share my room with someone

RANDOM SHIT:

I have breakdanced I have had a teacher with a last name that’s hard to pronounce I have dyed my hair I’m listening to one song on repeat right now I have punched someone in the past week I know someone who has gone to jail I have eaten a waffle today I know what I want to do with my life I speak at least 2 languages I have made a new friend in the past year

and i tag anyone who wants to do it, bc there was no specific rules about tagging people :D just tag me if you do it

[jbinbcn]

North Trip

06-09.12.2018

Pamplona - San Sebastian - Zumaya - Bilbao - Vitoria

Long weekend trip with ESN! I had never visited the North of Spain so when I saw the opportunity to go there with ESN, I bought the ticket :D And I needed to take a day off on Friday (6.12 is a holiday in Spain). SO GOOD SO GOOD!

4 days, 5 cities, more than 1300 km !

And I could see my lovely ocean after 2 years! <3 But for sure I’ll come back there! Still so many places to visit! Asturiuuunuuus are waiting XD So let’s start from the beginning.

06.12.2018 Valencia -> Pamplona

The meeting point was at 5 ! I slept 3h... and when I was walking to the bus I passed so many drunk people enjoying the night xD Why so early? Because it’s around 6h in the bus, we could leave Valencia even earlier to have more time for visiting. I slept like dead.. I got used to it, I just sit in the bus/train/car and I sleep. The bus stopped in the middle of nowhere for a break. There was a huge restaurant-shop to enjoy breakfast. I liked that place. Nice to have something like that, not only McDonalds and Orlen hot dogs.

At 8 I enjoyed from the bus the sunrise. It was really cool one, but yeah, photos through the window...

A few words about spanish landscapes. What I noticed, Spain is sooo empty. I mean, when you drive a car on the highway, there is nothing, no buildings, no forests, nothing. Just mountains in many parts, and windmills. I mean, for me is totally different from this what I see in Poland ;) Especially those mountains, but this in -> Chulilla.

We arrived around 12:00 to Pamplona. Our first city. ESN guys took us around the center doing their best city tour. 

---In the brackets I’ll write the name in BASQUE language!--- Probably you know about Cataluña, independence and catalán language. Spain is even more crazy. In the North of Spain there is a Basque Country (es: Pais Vasco, Euskadi) - yes, we are still in Spain. It’s an Autonomous Community (one of 17). But they have own language, spanish and basque are co-official languages there. You think, yeah sure language, probably it’s just dialect, he he, no xD Euskara It’s one of the languages which the etymologists can not find origins. For sure none of the European and is a language isolate to any other know ones. It’s like magic. My personal feelings (don’t take it serious): for me it’s a language of wildness, of woodsmen, of Vikings! Like big bearded guys xD sorry 🙈

Still don’t believe me?  So let’s have a look at the examples of the words, english - spanish - euskara

my favorite one: butterfly - mariposa - tximeleta  others: hello - hola - aupa  yes - si - bai no - no - ez kiss - beso - musua beach - playa - hondartza xDDD restaurant - restaurante - jatetxea father - padre - aita  I love you - te quiero - maite zaitut ❤

Sooo? Do you agree with me that is like viking? XD BASQUE MAN TRUE MAN!

If you still think that I chose only really different words, go to wikipedia, find some article (like famous one) and change the language to Euskara and enjoy ;)  BTW, The girl from Bilbao said that Eusakara is a difficult language to learn. There are 12 gramatical cases !!!! Ok hungarian still wins - 29...  For spanish speakers:

 For others, from 1:30:

----------

But let’s back to the trip. 

Pamplona (Iruña) 06.12.2018 In polish - Irunia - is a cute version of a name Irena ;)

It’s a capital city of Comunidad Foral de Navarra (Nafarroako Foru Komunitatea). So it’s not a “basque” city - I mean, autonomous community, but it’s in Basque Country as a region (Euskal Herria).

It’s really easy to notice when you passed the border of Spain and Basque region. Unfortunately we didn't stop to take some breathtaking photos, and from the window.. you know..

Mountains appearing in the fog...

For me it was amazing! But not on the photos. Sorry not sorry.

Do you know what Pamplona is famous for? ---Running of the bulls (encierro)--- During 9-day festival of Sanfermines (6-7 of July)  First run is on 7th, at 8 am. And then day by day till the end. It’s a good time to visit Pamplona second time ;) Then I can describe the whooooole tradition. Right now just some words. Origins: 14th century, men wanted to be faster and faster with transporting their bulls to the market square. They noticed that the best way is to make the bulls excited and frightened. After a while young boys and others started to making a competition between each other - who will be the fastest in the pens without being injured and overtaken. Because spanish people are crazy, the tradition expanded popularity and nowadays it’s preserved in many spanish cities. In Pamplona tradition is more touristic now, so maybe is better to go to another city to enjoy the old tradition. Enjoy - maybe it’s a wrong word, I don’t know if I would be strong enough to watch people running and getting injured and those poor bulls which will finish at the arena for a fight and dead at the end with a long way. In 1910 they began record-keeping and since then 15 people died. Last one in 2009. On wikipedia you can check exact data if you are interested. ----------

Step by step how we visited in few hours Pamplona (with many photos).

We started at the Plaza del Castillo, center of the city, social life, concerts, markets, events. The buildings around are really beautiful and reminded me Krakow ;)

The weather was like warm autumn.. ahh <3

El kiosko is a heart of the square.

Then we just followed ESN and enjoying the city. Of course we chose city tour in spanish, si si!

Around the cathedral there was a nice terrace to have a view of Pamplona from one side.

ESN guide tour we finished at Ayuntamiento. Baroque style, lions bearing coats of arms and a trumpet-blowing angel.

FREEEE TIME, means exactly food time.

---And now food story--- Vasco Pais is known as a land of pintxos. What’s that? Do you know tapas? Yes, the same “style”, just smaller. Pintxos - small “finger” foods. Like small sandwiches (takie kanapeczki koreczki). Slice of bread with a toothpick in the middle holding the rest together. They can be warm or cold. You enter the bar and in front of you there are all available pintxos, sometimes in the menu you can find more, which have to served warm. How to order? Depends, there are 2 ways. If the plate is on the counter and pintxos are easy to take, take the plate and put there whatever you want. If there are no plates or pintxos are behind the glass, just walk around, choose what you like and then ask a waiter to serve you them. In some bars they are all in the same price so you pay for how many toothpicks you have on the plate after all, or just you pay at the beginning when they are served. Funny fact: you enter the bar and you see it a little bit (or veeeery) dirty, like the floor is full of napkins. It means that the bar is good one, visited by many locals. Wtf?! It’s more hygienic to throw it than to keep it next to your food. In pintxos bars there are not places to sit. Pintxos are for standing socializing. You have a pintxo, you talk, you enjoy, you drink txacoli (sparkling, very dry white wine). You change the bar. It’s like pintxos crawling. Of course there are competitions which bars serve the best ones. ----------

So we knew what we want to eat - pintxos - claro que si. And the best for that is street called: Estafeta (on this street bulls run during the festival). But we found “the best ones” which won some prizes last year: Restaurante Baserriberri.

When we saw the prices there… 3e for a small pintxo xDDD

But then we saw that the waiters are serving something really interesting. In the menu we checked that this pintxo - bOOmveja -  won last year some prize. Look:

The form is not eatable. It’s printed in 3d printer. Inside I tasted some parkerhouse rolls (???? butter bread?) with (as we said) sheep cheese. It was amazing, so delicious, mmmm <3 

What I found about the ingredients? Read that xDDD But I can recommend. 3,5e, smaller than appetizer but was good XD

Then we went to the plaza de castillo to eat what we still had in our backpacks :D

Uncle Google recommended us to visit Ciudadela - 16-century fortress which from the top looks like an extraterrestrial star. In 18th century it was a prison, now it’s a park to chill. We took some stupid photos and it was time to come back to the bus. 

On our way we passed Baluarte Palacio de Congresos y Auditorio de Navarra - cultural center, modern art, art art art. And we stopped on Plaza de Toros next to Bullfighting Monument to take such an awesome video (I’m wondering how many people had the same idea).

So there was nobody! Finally some old people appeared so I asked them (I knew that it’s stupid idea) if some of them can take a short video of us (because I wanted to be in the video as well…). I prepared my phone, the old man, how to stand, what to click, we did our performance.

I checked what he had recorder... eh yes.. one more time please, again, preparing everything I even clicked the start… but he clicked the stop to early xD 

Well… at least he helped!

So bus time again. Pamplona - thank you and maybe see you in July. All day should be enough if you (like me) don’t visit all museums from inside. Next city!

San Sebastian (Donostia)

My favorite city in the northern Spain !! I’d live there just because of the view and location. The other aspects I don’t know ;)

We arrived to the “hostel”. Exactly we arrived to some place in the middle of something. And behind the hill we found our hostel. If you have a car or money for the taxi - is ok, they are able to reach the place. If not, like we, only big bus, we had to climb and then go down to find the hostel. It was already dark so even we didn’t know what we are doing, darkness. Of course, mess at the beginning who is with who in the room (sorryyyy Carlyne!). But finally we managed it to be together (5!) and 6th one scotch-italiano new friend ;)

Some free time and then all the group took a public bus to go to the center for a dinner, before party, party and after party depends on your strength.

So it was night sightseeing in San Sebastian.

Of course we went to eat pintxos. So much tourists. We entered to Senra Zaharrean.

Pintxos calientes ;)

It was a little bit crowded, but we waited like 5min to get a table. In this restaurant you take a plate, put what you want, pay. If you wanna beer, the waiter will bring you. Or if you’re going to the table you can pay later.

Next step we decided to buy some % and enjoy on the beach side. Of course hiding, drinking from the plastic bag.. 🙈

And then ESN and others came and we went to do BOTELLON ---------- I think I’ve never explained what is botellon. So it’s before party. Like we meet somewhere outside with a lot of alco etc, we enjoy, drink, have some social life before going to the clubs. Clubs in Spain are open mostly after midnight, people appear there more around 1-2 because during that time you don’t pay for the entrance, or you pay less. ----------

So our botellon was on the beach, under promenade. Good place, I recommend you to visit it during your stay in San Sebastian xD

And because I love the ocean so much I was in heaven. I haven’t seen it for 2,5 years! Ocean is the power, strength. It keeps me calm but gives me the energy at the same time. I’m in trance like I wrote once on fb ;)

I spend I think 1h looking at waves, were good/big enough. Satisfying ;) But because in Dec I didn’t have any winter clothes with me and north is quite cold during “winter” I started freezing so I came back to the Botellon. It was first and last time when I could see the ocean during the night. Hope to come back soon :D

To be honest I was so tired after this first day and night in the bus. Or I’m getting old too fast. :( But when ESN said that we have a free beer in the bar Bataplan, I went there to enjoy it xD #cebula

But it was one of the worst beers ever. Ble.. Carlyne took wine and it was even worse xD So it wasn’t worth but at least was warm. Erasmus had a karaoke party there and later they were supposed to go to the club to dance but no idea.

We decided to come back to the hostel. But because it was sooo f. away we had 2 options. Walk 3,5km oooor take a taxi. The problem was that we were 5 and nobody wanted to take us, and 2 taxis - too expensive come on xD So we walked xD 40min, up and down. I felt like in Porto od Gdynia, we go up, we go down, do it again again again, do it again again again. But it was ok, I did my steps. 

The hostel was ok, just the shower “perfect size”, like you enter and don’t move. And localization - terrible. For sure not for me, but for the big group works well.

Morning we started with of course breakfast but then city tour in San Sebastian. We had to move out, take our things to the bus, leave them there and enjoy San Sebastian during the day - the weather was perfect <3

So now it’s time for photos ;)

At the beginning we had a city tour with ESN. We started next to the beach to go up for the view.

Parte Vieja - old town, just walking and enjoying. 

Rumbo! XD Better version of it. (Rumbo is a club in Valencia which I don’t like and I don’t recommend). Una mierda.

Can you see a heart?

I read on the internet about this basque dessert so we tried. Like sweet rice pudding - good one!

Ayuntamiento - It’s kind of masterpiece, no? Before it was casino, you know, politicians, businessmen, etc. 

And around:

Urgull Mendia is a hill by the ocean. It’s a perfect chilling spot for enoying the view. AMAZING!

The flag of Basque Country.

Mamma mia !

ahhh my stupid pink-eye-make-up... Sad story behind :(

Heheszki

Yes, I’m happy :))

Museo de San Telmo - the oldest and the biggest in Basque Country. From prehistory to modernity. The original part of the museum it was a Dominican convent (XVI) so it’s like mix of the styles. Yes, I haven’t visited it inside.

Unfortunately we didn’t have time for many things!!! But I’m pretty sure they are worth a visit. :(

Monte Igueldo - The view has to be amazing. You can reach it by the antique funicular railway. On the top there is amusement park and tower - El Torreón.

La Catedral del Buen Pastor - 10 000 whistles in the organ - one of the biggest in Europe.

Isla de Santa Clara - to be honest - I’ve NOT seen it !!! Writing this I’m reading some stuffs and then I see on the photos the island, I’m like wtf, there was not any island! I checked my photos, yes, on mines the island “doesn’t exist”, because I was on the other side and for me it was just one land, one coast. Eh :(  Another reason to come back! 

There is a small cafe and a lighthouse. But you can access it only between 1th June and 30th September via ferry.

Paseo Nuevo - fuck my life. Another thing which I haven’t seen! It’s a new promenade around the Urgull hill, starts in Kursaal, and finishes in the port. It’s famous for the photos with huge waves. Come on, it’s my element (no byłabym w swoim żywiole!). Who wants to join me?

Peine del Viento - one of the best-known works by sculptor Eduardo Chillida. If you wanna a postcard from Donostia, probably it will be with those sculptures. We were supposed to go there, it’s on the opposite side of the beach (Playa de Ondarreta) but we didn’t have enough time so we came back to the old town. AND if we had gone there, we would have seen also the island… so bad so bad JB. Those sculptures are so heavy and there is story behind them, but I’m not gonna write about it, not yet! I’ll go, I’ll explore, I’ll learn, I’ll take pictures, then I can tell you more - my version :D

So when we noticed that there is no time for the sculptures,  we went to eat pintxos, how it could be different. And to be honest we found finally cheap <more or less> and good ones! Oh yeah! So I recommend this place in San Sebastian - Bar Gorriti.

On the floor there were a lot of napkins so it had to be good! In this one you say what you want and the waiter will put it on the plate, what has to be served warm, he will give you in 2-3min. Here I tried txicoli, yeah, sparkling and sour. But the way how they serve it, look!

I took some bowl, it was warm pintxo and really good one! It was my favorite one I think. Inside there was kind of mixed meat, maybe some smashed potatoes and it was fried - recommend!

Next step was - to chill xD I could see so many things but what I did? I went to sleep on the beach xD It was really good siesta, I just lied down on the wall and I was enjoying my dreams. And from there we had a view on the surfers - this is surfing, not like in Valencia, minimal waves, no adrenaline, etc (but they do it in Valencia! lol).

When I wake up (15-20min, true afternoon siesta), I went to say goodbye to the ocean. Calm me baby.

Then the bus and let’s go to another city!

Zumaya

We went there only for like 45min. Why? There is an amazing view spot. Some scenes of Game of Thrones were recorded there (I don’t know which ones, I don’t watch it, sorry not sorry). But maybe you can guess from photos:

But it was the only place where was raining and was soooo f*ck… windy! Omg xD 

But it was worth it. You know, act like nothing is happening, just for photos, and then run away before you fall off. But amazing, amazing! Basque landscapes - wow!

zmokła kura.

Next city!

Bilbao 07.12.2018

We arrived when was dark already, so like always, just run away from the bus (because it stopped where it shouldn’t), take the luggage and enter the hostel. This time the hostel was more or less in the center so walking time (probably we would have walked even if it had been located somewhere outside xD). We had some time to prepare, do shopping, before leaving for botellon.

So we did. A good shopping. Just look xD We wanted to be prepared, not like in San Sebastian, just one beer. HE HE XDD

That night ESN prepared for us a dinner, like tortillas de patatas, chips chips chips, chorizos, jamones, etc.

After that we had some drinking games and then let’s go! Botellon spot was next to Guggenheim Museum - artistic botellon! And here will be the story of Bilbao xD

I left my phone in the hostel, because I’m with big group, we have a lot of vodka, just to be sure that I won’t lose it. The hostel had 3 doors to pass, entrance - code, room area - code, room - code. Better because we were 12 (!!!) in the room so impossible to share one key (like in San Sebastian). I hadn’t known that, and when receptionist saw me fighting with the “room area” door, he gave me a card with all codes and with the address of the hostel. I put it to the pocket with thinking - it will be useful. We (5 of us) started drinking during the way to botellon (you know, like there is no time). And yes, for 2 of us it was a little bit bad idea XD And when ESN said that we have to go to the club to enter before 2 (because for free), I decided to take a friend home, another 2 stayed, one left with ESN. So it was like 15min walking, more or less 2 big streets. To remind - I didn’t have my phone with me, and the other person phone didn’t work - wtf! Like just stopped, all apps from Google just stopped. We were left without a map… I just knew one street at the beginning and that’s all. So ok, we will ask on the streets. I even didn’t remember the hostel name xDDD Buuut yes, a had an address!!! <3 First person to ask - young dustman. When he showed me the map, I was like, fuck, we are lost already, after 10min we were somewhere else than we were supposed to be. Ok, he said, go straight and at the end ask someone else. But I really needed to use the toilet, like really. And then I saw some cafe in the middle of some park, it looked like private party, but the door was a little bit open, I entered like without touching, like I’m matching perfect to this open door hole. I said - HOLA, my instinct just knew were to go to find a bathroom, I used, I came back to that door, I said - ADIOS. Easy xD We asked again some people in this park about the way. Then we again asked some young guys, they look at the map and like - oooookeeeey, maybe we will take you there. They knew about crazy Erasmus life. They understood those feelings. We were walking walking walking, then they said that it’s at the end of the street. You even can’t imagine how happy we were. But then we were lost again xD My friend because of hiccup was hiding behind - glass lift xD when I was asking some group of old people (+60) about the hostel. They were like, it’s here… And then I look around, I noticed Carrefour (where we did our lovely shopping). I can not explain those positive emotions which I had that time… That happiness! When I entered the room, the rest of the group was sleeping already.. how?!?! We were walking for 1,5h hour… Love you Bilbao ;*

In the morning, breakfast, shower (we had 1 shower for 12 people, good luck), and let’s explore what we explored during the night. No idea how was our path. I tried my best, but yeah.. We went first to Guggenheim Museum. Ok, I was fascinated (I think first time) because I read a book of Dan Brown - Origin (Początek) last Christmas and there were some of the actions.

Solomon Guggenheim was crazy about abstract art, his flat started being to small for all his collection, so he set a foundation up and established museum - Museum of Non-Objective Painting. But the place was also too small. Frank Lloyd Wright designed a new building. When you think about museum, probably you think about old building, you know artistic, wow, photogenic, wow, art, wow, majestic! This one was different, was destroying all the well-known rules. The collection was growing and growing and in 80s the contemporary director Thomas Krens decided to set branches up. That time Bilbao was a dying city. There was an economic crisis, the big industrial companies crashed. The Basque government asked Krens to build of the branch in Bilbao, he asked Frank Gehr to construct it. It cost a lot of money, but was built on time and budget. Has it helped Bilbao? A lot! Maybe that’s why you know that city. ~9000 workplaces, during first 2 years more than 2 600 000 people visited the museum!

The building is made of titanium and glass. You can see there fish, flower or a sailing boat, depends from which side you are looking at (or how “creative” you are ;) ). Around the museum you can find:

Puppy - West Highland terrier, 13m, 16 tonnes, tens thousands of flowers.

Maman - “mummy”, spider, almost 10m, includes a sac with 32 eggs, meaning: mother’s protection - soft for children, dangerous for others - many interpretations.

Fire fountain - from time to time 5 fountains blast flames into the sky - I haven’t seen :/

Tulips - bunch of 7 large tulips (5m) like a baloons.

Tall Tree & The Eye - 73 reflective spheres, too deep to write.

Fog - it appears from time to time.

The entrance: 16e, 9e (students <26). Better to check the hours and if that day is open. 

We had a headphones with the guide (in english). You clicked the interesting number and you could hear the story. Take the map with you. 

It’s really big but accidentally I went first to the room with sculpture of THE MATTER OF TIME. For me it’s sooooo fascinating! It was in the book of Dan Brown and it’s not art which you should go deep in, like think why it looks like that, what the author thought, no! Richard Serra is known as an artist whose sculptures you can’t feel, you can’t get them with your eyes only, you can’t look at them and understand them. It’s all about physical feeling. When he started, people didn’t like his art, it was ugly for them. It’s impossible to show his sculptures on the photos, because they mean nothing then. You have to walk through them, they will work for you physically (no w sensie, że nie fizycznie odczujesz co ziomek chciał przedstawiać, zacznie Ci się kręcić, w głowie, albo jakieś inne takie efekty specjalne). Maybe you know those blocks in front of the Museum of Holocaust in Berlin? He designed them. On the photos - hmm you don’t know wtf, but when you walk through you should start feeling lonely, uneasy, lost. This art I appreciate :D So what about The matter of time? 8 sculptures, the lightest piece weights 44 tons and the heaviest 276 tons - wow - together - 1034 tons - wow! In the room next to it you can find everything explained and small version of it to have a better look at the construction.

After the previous night I was a little bit dizzy, but when I passed all those sculptures I wanted to die. It seriously works! It makes you dizzy, you feel like it’s closing you inside, you lose the orientation, you are lost in time. Maybe it’s better to visit this room at the end, to feel better during walking on the 2nd and 3rd floor.

One more room was quite interesting on the 1st floor. In the middle there were kind of bowels (flaki, wnętrzności, takie jelitka czy ciul wie co). In one corner just phone recording you and showing it on a big screen - lol. Kind of strange tent - no idea. Some flying big balloons, salt xD

And 3 figures of dogs. Here I listened to the record carefully but when the guide said that it’s Maria and Jesus.. well.. I changed the channel.

Next floors (2nd & 3rd) - omg so boring (sorry art lovers). Paintings, paintings… no sense, no feelings, no. Aaaaa and it was forbidden to take photos :/ I noticed it too late xD

But this painting... wtf ! Or there was one, totally black, with one white corner. No.

And then we went to eat! Pintxos, claro que si! We just were walking with ESN, but because the group was too big, we entered to the next bar. Also recommended! I liked it.

Plaza Albia

I saw that they also have those balls so I took one. Hmm it was different, not that delicious buuuuuut

The sauce was so so so f. spicy! But good at the same time, like you keep eating mmm it’s perfect, but when you stop... better to not stop XD

mniam mniam mniam!

Napkins on the floor!

Then we walked a little bit and decided to come back to the museum (there was our meeting point) and chill there.

Bilbao’s architecture:

Then we had a city tour with guys from ESN Bilbao so we learnt more about the city from true basque people :)

Beautiful sunset!

We decided to eat for a dinner CAROLINA! It’s like another basque dessert. But on our way we found bubble wafer which I always wanted to try in Krakow so... (szału nie ma dupy nie urywa).

And we found carolinas! In Poland we have something similar for winters and we call it - warm ice creams - ciepłe lody. Mniam :D

On our way to the hostel... we passed the street to the right and we noticed 10min later when we were on the top of the hill... Bilbao <3

So this night was our! Like finally we wanted to end up in the basque club! Por favor xD But this time we needed to take metro and walk a little bit (~40min in total) and we had botellon just in front of the club. But what it was a club! xDDD When we were walking from the metro we were like in the worst part of the city, between some industrial buildings, garages etc. Like wtf. And then we stopped on the parking, and we were playing games and drinking (more careful than the day before). When I asked ESN where is the club they showed closed door to one of the garages XD And yes, it was this, around midnight the door opened and you could see that this can be a club. How it was? Typical spanish club, maybe not enough of reggaeton and music to dance, like to many songs of electro something, but at all - not bad. I was thinking to walk to the hostel but when I saw the area and everything, nope, metro. Even taxi doesn’t go there xD And when we were waiting for the club, spanish people started arriving and it was like “village need for speed shows” XDD You know chicos in the cars showing their best screech of tyres (no powiedziałabym sądeckie dresy popisujące się paleniem opon, no poczułam się jak w Nowym Sączu przez chwilę).

So party in the North - checked. At least once xD

In the morning, zombie packing and let’s go to the next city!

Vitoria (Gasteiz) 09.12.2018

It’s a capital city of Basque Country (nope, not Bilbao). It’s not big one but it’s cute. We started next to the new cathedral, again we had a city tour with a girl from ESN Vitoria. It was a good tour!

This place is like social life center. During the summer old people (like +60) meet here to dance. It has to be so cute :D When I pass my 60 I’ll go to Vitoria to dance the whole night :D

This is the new cathedral. Why? Where is the old one? The old one was damaging and the city needed a cathedral so they build new one. But as I heard they are not proud of it - it’s ugly.

We started a sightseeing from a new part. Look at the architecture.

Iglesia de San Miguel

Plaza Nueva It’s like Sunday spot for locals. In the past it was a market place and bull arena. Now it’s a place to meet, grab a drink, etc. Every Sunday children come here to exchange with some posters, stamps, coins etc (pamiętacie wymianę karteczkami? XD).  

Plaza de los fueros Before it was Plaza de Abastos - for selling fresh products. New one exist for >30 years. Fuero - forum, open spacec used as market.

In basque cities they have a cool way to put the names of the streets. I like it.

In the wall on the right (second photo on the left) there is a girl. She was walled up and people say that you can hear her sometimes, well.

El Portalon c. XV, traditional basque food, not cheap one.

In Vitoria you can find some nice graffiti.

We finished out tour. Free time for food and it’s time to go back to Valencia. This time I’ll surprise you, for the lunch we ate - kebab! XDDD Because it’s big enough for 6h in the bus and it costs like 2 pintxos so.. xD

Then we walked throught the city, enjoying it last time.

Locals call it - pussy.

In the Florida parkea - the park - there was a kind of Bethlehem. We were looking or a Jesus like 15min xD asking locals if they know, they didn’t, but we found it, it was so hidden!

Nice pig XD

Like in Barcelona.

Sooo that’s all from basque cities. We took a bus to Valencia.

Super trip! I’ll come back, for sure to San Sebastian! Thank you guys! :D

And you did it, you survived till the end XD CONGRATULATIONS!

//whatHappenedInTheNorthStaysInTheNorth